Cocaine coca leaves

According to the Controlled Substances Act, the term narcotic drug refers to more than just opiate drugs it also includes opium, poppy straw, derivatives of opium and opiates, cocaine, coca leaves, and extracts that contain cocaine and ecgonine (the major metabolite of cocaine) and its derivatives. These may be directly or indirectly produced by extraction from substances, by chemical synthesis, or by a combination of both methods. 

Coca-cola got its name from the coca leaf extract which it contained (as did a variety of wines) until 1904. Neither tolerance nor physical addiction to cocaine seem to occur, so sniffing it occasionally should be quite safe. 

The coca leaf is commonly chewed by the natives of South America. The natives claim that the cocaine depresses their hunger and increases their strength. The leaves are very bitter when chewed and are often flavored with another substance such as lime. It has been estimated that over 90% of the Indians chew the coca leaf. The native chews, on an average, about two ounces of coca leaf daily and is often characterized by blackish red deposits on his teeth. 

The coca leaf is either consumed by the natives of South America or exported to other countries for consumption. Another use of the coca leaf is in the extraction of cocaine either for illegitimate or legitimate use. The majority of the legal and/or clandestine cocaine factories are in South America due to the cost and bulk of transporting the whole leaf. In 1961, Bolivia produced an annual crop of from 12,000 to 18,000 tons of leaves although only half reached the legal market. The alkaloid cocaine is extracted from the coca leaf in basically three different chemical procedures. These procedures are used both in licit and illicit labs in the production of cocaine. 

According to a chemist who assisted in the legal manufacture of cocaine, there are three basic methods of extracting cocaine from the coca leaf ... 

The dried coca leaf is treated, through a chemical process, with an acid solution such as sulfuric acid, producing raw cocaine or coca paste. The coca paste which contains approximately 70% cocaine, is put through another chemical process with hydrochloric acid creating a hydrochloric salt or cocaine hydrochloride which is soluble in water. This particular process is very time consuming and can take from 1 to 2 weeks to complete. This process is used by both the legitimate and illicit manufacturers of cocaine. 

Once the cocaine has been legally produced from the coca leaf, it is exported to various countries for medicinal use, basically as a topical local anesthetic (applied to the surface, not injected, only treating a particular area). In the United States the crystalline powder is imported to pharmaceutical companies who process and package the cocaine for medical use. Merck Pharmaceutical Company and Mallinckrodt Chemical Works distribute cocaine in crystalline form (Hydrochloride Salt) in dark colored glass bottles to pharmacies and hospitals throughout the United States. Cocaine, in the alkaloid form (base drug containing no additives such as hydrochloride in the crystalline form) is rarely used for medicinal purposes. Cocaine hydrochloride crystals or flakes come in Vs, A and 1 ounce bottles from the manufacturer and has a wholesale price of approximately 20 to 25 per ounce (100% pure). 

The original 100 kilos of dried coca leaf that it takes to produce 1 kilo of pure cocaine costs approximately 200. The kilo of pure cocaine will eventually be worth over 200,000 when sold to users in 25% pure gram quantities. 

Cartmell, L.W., Aufderheide, A.C., Springfield, A., Weems, C. and Arriaza, B. (1991). The frequency and antiquity of Prehistoric coca-leaf-chewing practices in Northern Chile radioimmunoassay of cocaine metabolite in human mummy hair. Latin American Antiquity 2 260-268. 

The use of scheduled substances in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, depicted in figures A.I-A.IV below, represents classic production and manufacturing methods. The extraction of cocaine from coca leaf and the purification of coca paste and the crude base products of cocaine and heroin require solvents, acids and bases. A wide range of such chemicals has been used at all stages of drug production. 

John Styth Pemberton prepared a drink containing extract of coca leaf and caffeine that he termed Coca-Cola. Today, because of drug laws enacted in the early 1900s, coca extract is still used to prepare Coca-Cola, but the cocaine is removed. Cocaine is used medicinally as a local anesthetic, applied topically by some surgeons for nasal, throat, and ear surgery. 

Cocaine is found in several forms. It can be extracted from the coca leaf to form coca paste (basuco, pitillo), which is not water soluble but can be smoked. The paste can be further treated to form cocaine hydrochloride (cocaine powder), which can be dissolved in water and injected, or can be snorted into the nostril. 

Most of the world s cocaine comes from coca leaf cultivated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The global area under coca cultivation fell by 29 per cent to some 156,900 hectares between 2000-2006, largely due to reductions of coca cultivation in Colombia. The areas under coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia increased over this period but remained significantly below the levels reported a decade earlier. 

Increases in 2005 were reported for coca leaf, cocaine, the amphetamines as well as GHB and LSD. As global cocaine production remained unchanged, the strong increase in cocaine seizures is likely to have been the exclusive result of effective and successful law enforcement. Though amphetamines seizures increased in 2005 they are still below the peak levels of 2000 and 2001. Global trafficking in amphetamines over the last five years has remained basically stable. 

There is still a strong concentration of cocaine seizures in the Americas (85 per cent). South America, where all of the coca leaf originates and most of the cocaine is produced, accounted for 51 per cent of global seizures,... 

Based on new field research on the coca leaf yield in the Yungas of La Paz, the potential production of cocaine HCl in Bolivia in 2006 was 94 metric tons, an increase by 18 per cent compared to the revised production estimate of 80 metric tons in 2005. The increase in cocaine production is much more pronounced than the coca cultivation increase due to the fact that most of the area increase took place in Chapare, where coca leaf yields are more than twice the amount recorded in the Yungas of La Paz. 

Figure for 2005 was revised based on updated information available on the amount of coca leaf necessary to produce one kilogramme of cocaine HC1. 

Based on updated information on the amount of coca leaf necessary to produce one kilogram of cocaine HC1, the total potential cocaine production in 2006 amounted to 280 metric tons, which is an increase of 8 per cent compared to 2005. While this is the highest production figure since 1998, it is still only about half the amount registered during the cocaine production peak in Peru in 1992. In 2006, Peru accounted for 28 per cent of the global cocaine production. 

In 2006, wholesale prices for coca paste and cocaine HCI fell by 14 per cent and 8 per cent respectively compared to 2005, similar to the prices for sun-dried coca leaf. 

The use of the concept of potential production at the country level also means that actual heroin or cocaine production is under-estimated in some countries, and over-estimated in others while the estimate for the global level should be only slightly affected by this. The calculation of potential cocaine production estimates for Peru, for instance, exceeds actual local cocaine production as some of the coca paste or coca base produced in Peru is exported to neighbouring Colombia and other countries for further processing into cocaine. Based on the same reasoning, potential cocaine production estimates for Colombia under-estimate actual cocaine production in the country. Actual cocaine manufacture in Colombia takes place from locally produced coca leaf as well as from coca base imported from Peru. 

German chemist, Albert Niemann, separates cocaine from the coca leaf. 

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